5 Wildfire Myths That Can Cost You Your Home (And What Actually Protects It)
Every week I talk to a homeowner up in the hills who tells me some version of the same thing: "We're pretty prepared, I think." Then I ask what that means, and the answer is almost always a go-bag and a plan to evacuate. That's necessary. It's also not the same as having a house to come back to. A lot of the gap between "prepared" and "actually protected" comes down to a handful of myths that sound reasonable and just aren't true. After the 2018 Woolsey Fire burned through the hills near my home in West Hills and I went through CERT training with LAFD, I started paying close attention to which of these myths show up over and over. Here are five of them, and what's actually true instead.
Myth #1: "If It's Not Touching Flames, My House Won't Catch Fire"
This is the big one, and it's backwards. According to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), windblown embers — not direct flame contact — account for up to 90 percent of home ignitions during wildfires. A fire can be a mile away, and an ember riding a Santa Ana gust can still land in your gutter, your mulch bed, or a gap under your eaves and start a fire with your house as the fuel. This is exactly why defensible space and ember-resistant construction matter even for homes that never see an active flame front.
Myth #2: "Firefighters Will Be There to Protect My House"
I understand why people assume this. It's also not how a fast-moving, wind-driven fire actually works. When a single Santa Ana event can spark spot fires across dozens of properties within minutes, there simply aren't enough engines to post one in front of every house. This is exactly why CAL FIRE and local fire agencies have spent years pushing homeowners to take their own mitigation seriously — not as a backup plan, but as the plan, because crews can't be everywhere at once during the events that matter most.
Myth #3: "My Insurance Will Make Me Whole, So Prep Doesn't Matter Financially"
Even setting aside whether a policy pays out fast enough or fully enough to rebuild, there's a more basic problem: in a lot of California's highest-risk zones, getting and keeping a policy at all has gotten harder. Private insurers have pulled back from dozens of California counties over wildfire risk, pushing more homeowners toward the FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort. Under the state's Safer from Wildfires framework, insurers are required to offer premium credits for documented mitigation steps. Prep isn't just about saving your house — for a growing number of homeowners, it's tied to whether you can get affordable coverage in the first place.
Myth #4: "I Cleared My Defensible Space, So My House Is Fireproof"
Defensible space is the single highest-leverage thing you can do, and I'd never talk anyone out of doing it. But "reduces risk" and "eliminates risk" are different claims. Clearing combustibles out of the zone closest to your home — what the state's proposed Zone 0 rules describe as the first five feet — lowers the odds that an ember ignites your house in the first place. It doesn't do anything for the ember that still gets through: into a gutter you missed, a vent screen with a gap, a pile of leaves that blew in after you cleared the zone. That's a different problem, and it needs a different tool — a hose, valve, and nozzle staged and ready, not another pass with the rake.
Myth #5: "Fire Season Is a Summer Problem, I'll Get Ready Later"
If you're reading this in October, you already know this one is false — Southern California has been under Red Flag Warnings this month, driven by the same Santa Ana winds that have historically fueled some of our most destructive fall and winter fires. Fire season in this part of the state isn't a fixed window anymore. "Later" is a plan that only works if the wind cooperates, and it doesn't always.
What You Need to Know
- Embers, not flames, start most wildfire home fires — up to 90% according to IBHS, which means ember-resistant gaps (gutters, vents, mulch beds) matter as much as distance from the fire.
- Fire agencies can't guarantee a truck at every house during a major wind event — your own mitigation and equipment are the plan, not the backup plan.
- Insurance access in high-risk zones is tightening, and documented mitigation can affect both availability and premium credits under state programs.
- Defensible space and hydrant equipment are complementary, not interchangeable — one lowers ignition odds, the other is what you reach for if an ember gets through anyway.
- Red flag conditions aren't limited to summer in Southern California — don't wait for a calendar date to get your gear staged.
- None of this replaces an evacuation order. If authorities tell you to leave, leave. Equipment and preparation are what you do before that point, and only if it's safe to do so — always check your local jurisdiction's rules on hydrant use, and practice with your gear before you ever need it in an emergency.
Myths are comfortable because they let you put off the work. The facts are less comfortable, which is exactly why they're worth acting on now instead of after the next Red Flag Warning.
Sherwin Ross is the founder of Ace Fire Defense, based in West Hills, CA. After the 2018 Woolsey Fire, he became CERT-trained and started building wildfire defense equipment for homeowners who don't want to find out the hard way that a myth was all they had.